Prequel restaurant review: Bengaluru’s Airport Road gets a new, buzzy all-day dining space

Parmesan potato gnocchi in spiced tomato sauce
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Prequels, sequels they are all floating about in our collective subconscious. What happened to the House Targaryen before Game of Thrones? House of Dragon gives a couple of clues. How did the love story of Queen Charlotte and King George III unfold? The Bridgerton spin-off might give some answers. We learn how the poor, young, immigrant Vito becomes the fearsome Don Corleone in The Godfather Part II, which is that rare movie that is a both a prequel and sequel.

Lamb shank nihari, butter chicken
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

If you are wondering why I am nattering on about prequels and dragons in a restaurant review, it is because the restaurant in question is called Prequel and got me thinking about the beginning of things before they became what they were. For instance, how Jimmy Page, who before Led Zeppelin was still insanely talented, but not yet the guitar god with black sequined bellbottoms.

The logic behind the name is the same apparently; you can be your prequel at Prequel or feel like Alice falling down that semantic rabbit hole. Perfectly located on Bellary Road, Prequel offers an ideal welcome to Bengaluru. As you get off that final flyover from the airport and before you tackle the scary Hebbal flyover into the city, there is Prequel all light and airy in the day and sparkly shiny at night.

There is a 70-mm vibe to the restaurant from its Insta-ready glittering mirrors to the hypnotic gigantic screens. There are huge windows where you can watch the world creep by in multi-coloured vehicles like a bunch of weary snails on Airport Road. While the drinks are all named after famous prequels including Revenge of the Sith, Annabelle and Secrets of Dumbledore (hmph), the food is a bit of everything from sushi to momos, pizzas to parathas and pastas.

As usual, my brain freezes as the options increase and we leave ourselves in the capable hands of the chef. Since we were both recovering from itchy throats, the warm, spiced toddy went down a treat. The food was uniformly tasty, while not being particularly memorable. The only thing that stood out in the sea of flavourful dishes, was the humble dal makhani, with its distinct smoky flavour.

Pizza with wild mushroom pesto, mozzarella and truffle oil
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The paneer hummosa wins an A for originality as does the chilli cheese kulcha bomb—I always have a weakness for bread and cheese, what can I say? There were also dips to finish off the pizza crusts — it is getting to be a thing, no? The re-invented fresh fruit parfait sundae was a good way to sign off on a good meal in a pleasant ambience.